KW automotive is official BRABUS technology partner

BRABUS, manufacturer of high-performance supercars, is the world’s leading brand for exclusive automotive refinement. The portfolio of the company founded in Bottrop in the Ruhr Valley in 1977 includes vehicles of the luxury brands Mercedes-Benz, Maybach, Porsche and Rolls-Royce.

For more than 30 years, KW automotive has been specializing in the development and production of innovative suspension systems for automobiles. The KW brand is the global leader in this segment and also one of the most successful suppliers in international motorsports.

What would thus have been more logical than a technology partnership between BRABUS and KW automotive for the development and supply of high-end suspension components?

The two companies will collaborate even more closely on the design, calibration, testing and production of professionally tuned suspension solutions for the exclusive BRABUS vehicles and ranges of tuning components.

“We have already supported BRABUS successfully and repeatedly in various development projects in the past. We are delighted that this close technology partnership has grown from initial projects such as the development of height-adjustable spring sets for different Mercedes-Benz models or a coilover sports suspension adjustable in height and damping characteristics for the BRABUS ULTIMATE 125 based on the smart fortwo,” states Jürgen Wohlfarth, CEO of KW automotive GmbH, which is headquartered in Fichtenberg in the German state of Baden-Württemberg.

“Our cooperation with KW in the development of suspension components for us has evolved continuously in recent years. Our broad product range and the ever more sophisticated suspension technology require a professional partner that not only has the necessary expertise, but also responds flexibly to new challenges, produces swiftly and delivers reliably,” says Jörn Gander, CTO of BRABUS and responsible for the development of all vehicles and components from the company.

The cooperation between the two companies is already running at full speed. For example, BRABUS equips not only the spectacular BRABUS Crawler supercar with suspension components from KW, but also the BRABUS 700, 800 and 900 models based on the Mercedes-AMG G 63 of the W 463A series, as well as the BRABUS 720 and 820 supercars based on the Porsche 911 Turbo. In addition to adaptive suspension systems with electronically controlled proportional solenoid valves designed and calibrated specifically for BRABUS, the suspension engineers in Bottrop also rely on the manually multi-adjustable shock absorber technology of KW.

The host of technology projects currently being advanced by BRABUS and the KW automotive Group also includes the semi-active BRABUS RideControl suspensions for the Mercedes G-Class. They are based on KW Solid Piston shock absorbers with freely adjustable, electronic KW proportional valves. “We developed a special DDC ECU EVO suspension control unit for this in collaboration with BRABUS, which uses our intelligent KW software to constantly process the various driving dynamics signals in real time for controlling the suspension,“ says KW CEO Jürgen Wohlfarth, providing an insight into the technology. “The control algorithms are able to adjust the BRABUS Ride Control dampers to the particular driving situation in just six to ten milliseconds. Be it on paved roads or in terrain: with this suspension technology, BRABUS and KW have jointly set new standards in this field.” A special variant of this hi-tech suspension is used in the spectacular BRABUS P 900 ROCKET EDITION pickup, for example, which despite its heavy weight of some 2.7 metric tons accelerates from rest to 100 km/h (62 mph) in a mere 3.7 seconds and reaches speeds up to 280 km/h (174 mph).

The outstanding quality of the components supplied by KW is also a fundamental prerequisite for BRABUS suspensions being backed by the one-of-a-kind, three-year or 100,000-kilometer/62,000-mile BRABUS Tuning Warranty (see BRABUS Warranty Terms and Conditions, updated July 2013).

KW automotive is an owner-managed company that operates a state-of-the-art development and testing center for designing and calibrating its own broad range of suspensions and also carries out custom work for the automotive industry. In addition, modern production plants allow producing the KW suspension components quickly and in top quality to the highest OEM standards.